Sabah to conduct research on new malaria strain

Kota Kinabalu: Sabah has been picked as a research site for a new malaria strain, Plasmodium Knowlesi, that can also be transmitted to humans. "The Plasmodium Knowlesi is different in that it normally infects macaque monkeys. However, recent years have seen an increasing number of cases in humans throughout Malaysia, especially Sabah, as well as other Asean countries," said Health Ministry Deputy Director General of Health, for Research and Technical Support, Dato Dr Maimunah Hamid.

She was speaking at the launching of a "Joint International Collaborative Meeting on Plasmodium Knowlesi Malaria Research" at Hyatt Hotel, Monday, which kicks off the five-year research work.

"Much is still unknown about this disease and due to the fact that Sabah has one of the highest number of cases in the region and perhaps the world, it presents the best place to do studies on Plasmodium Knowlesi."

Palawan, our neighbour will also be one of the research sites, she added.

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"We are very pleased that Ministry officers would be working hand in hand with reknowned researchers from international research institutions to conduct the research," she said.

To identify risk factors for this strain, a team of scientists from the United Kingdom, Australia, Malaysia and the Philippines was awarded three million pounds Sterling from the Medical Research Council of United Kingdom for the research.

Their research would involve combining different research areas including clinical, social, mosquito, macaque and geography to understand why certain individuals get knowlesi malaria and others don't with the aim to provide information on how to control this malaria.

Meanwhile, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine's Head of Malaria Research Dr Chris Drakely thanked the Ministry for their support towards the research project.

"We started to write and develop the idea in 2010 and this is a unique opportunity for interdisciplinary research with a team of high quality scientists to address an important health problem," he said, hoping that it would enhance capacity to address this disease locally, regionally and internationally.

Meanwhile, fellow researcher, Infectious Disease Physician Dr Timothy William of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital 1 is confident that the results of the research project would help reduce the disease burden and hoped it would reduce the mortality and morbidity of the infection.

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Also present was State Health Department Director Dr Mohd Yusof Ibrahim who said the initial symptoms of Knowlesi is similar to plasmodium malariae but it would eventually become severe with high fever and organ failure, resulting in death.

"We recorded 2,032 malaria cases with seven deaths throughout the State last year, and for plasmodium knowlesi we recorded 209 cases with four deaths, with Kudat recording the highest cases," he said, hoping that they could bring the figure down to zero by the year 2017.

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